Going out to see cherry blossoms is likely one of the most quintessential Japanese springtime actions, however preventing crowds can be typically one other. That’s as a result of the blossoms solely bloom for a brief time period, and so just about the entire nation concentrates its visits to probably the most well-known parks and gardens with near-identical timing.
To be honest, Japan’s high cherry blossom venues are nonetheless lovely even once they’re crowded, and you possibly can even argue that the massive crowds assist contribute to a enjoyable, party-like ambiance. However, should you’d somewhat skip the usual touristy locations and search for a extra personalised expertise, Japanese journey portal Jalan is right here to assist with a listing of its high 9 off-the-beaten-path sakura spots within the nation.
The rankings have been compiled from an web survey of 1,054 respondents between the ages of 20 and 59, and as an alternative of the commonest cherry blossom selection, Somei Yoshino, the checklist focuses on two different sakura varieties, yaezakura, whose flowers bloom in thicker double-layered clusters, and shidarezakura, whose branches arch downwards like these of a weeping willow. Note that a few of these locations aren’t precisely totally unknown and might need crowds throughout peak instances or on the weekends, however they need to all nonetheless be much less congested than the best-known, extra closely touristed venues in locations like Tokyo or Kyoto.
8 (tie). Arisugawa-no-miya Memorial Park (Tokyo)
Best viewing time: Late March-Early April
Website
hat mentioned, even in downtown Tokyo you could find sakura spots that most individuals don’t find out about. Once the property backyard of a samurai lord, the garden-turned-park is only a quick stroll from Hiroo Station and has quite a lot of sakura species, together with yaezakura, to be discovered on its hillside grounds.
8 (tie). Oniushi Park (Hokkaido Prefecture)
Best viewing time: Mid to late March
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Hakodate is the closest main vacationer attraction to Oniushi Park, which is positioned on the other coast of the Oshima Peninsula within the city of Mori. This seaside park has roughly 500 cherry blossom bushes, and with yaezakura being a later-blooming selection and Hokkaido’s cool climate that means a later begin to sakura season on the whole, Oniushi is a superb possibility should you’re too busy to journey throughout the common peak cherry blossom flowering. Oniushi additionally boasts yaebenishidare bushes, a hybrid weeping yaezakura kind.
7. Nagatoro Pass (Saitama Prefecture)
Best viewing time: Mid-late April
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Some 500 bushes from 31 completely different types of yaezakura type a cherry blossom tunnel in Nagatoro within the Chichibu mountains. Not solely are they lovely to view from beneath, should you take the ropeway cable automotive as much as the bearby Fudoji Temple, you possibly can admire the pink path from above too.
6. Takebe no Mori Park (Okayama Prefecture)
Best viewing time: Late March-mid-April
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Situated within the mountainous northern sector of Okayama City, there are over 100 various kinds of cherry blossoms to see on this park, which owes a part of its creation to Toemon Sano, a botanist referred to as the “Sakura Protector” for his work with the crops. Sano was the third botanist to take that title and dedicate his life’s work to cherry blossoms, and although he handed away in 2025, the park, with its tunnel of weeping yaezakura, stays part of his dwelling legacy.
4 (tie). Yuka no Sato (Tokushima Prefecture)
Best viewing time: Late March-early April
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Located within the city of Kamiyamacho, Yuka no Sato’s distinctive strolling course winds its manner up a terraced hillside lined with 3,000 cherry blossom bushes, together with 500 shidarezakura. Standing amongst the bushes are statues of Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy, and gazing out on the sakura from above creates a sensation much like seeing the “sea of clouds” from a mountaintop.
4 (tie). Kakunodate Samurai Residence Street (Akita Prefecture)
Best viewing time: Mid-late April
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The city of Kakunodate’s declare to fame is its preserved samurai quarter, and as you may think, a few of these samurai households had very good gardens. In specific, the shidarezakura bushes proven within the above photograph are mentioned to have been dropped at Kakunodate from Kyoto as a part of the dowry of a noble woman who was marrying into one of many native samurai clans, and seeing these sakura bushes and others towards the backdrop of the normal structure, particularly at evening, could have you feeling such as you’re out for a luxuriously leisurely stroll within the Edo period.
3. Rakuozakura (Fukushima Prefecture)
Best viewing time: Early-mid-April
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With yaezakura and shidarezakura being kinds of cherry bushes, you would possibly assume that Rakuozakura is one other. Actually, although, the Rakuozakura is a single, particular tree that grows on the grounds of Nanko Shrine, which is itself within Nako Park within the city of Shirakawa. How does a single cherry blossom tree get its personal title? By being greater than 200 years previous, and from being so awe-inspiringly majestic in each measurement and form.
2. Miho Museum, (Saga Prefecture)
Best viewing time: Early-mid-April
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The metropolis of Koka’s Miho Museum accommodates 1000’s of work, sculptures, and ceramic and lacquerware items, however there’s additionally magnificence to be discovered exterior its partitions. The museum is perched atop a forested mountain and accessed by way of a tunnel, and in spring the 100 shiradezakura bushes greet you with waves of pink petals as you come out the exit. This one does are likely to get crowded with flower viewers on the weekends, so a weekday go to is finest if you wish to quietly ponder them, particularly when the sakura are bathed in morning gentle.
1. Nicchu Line Weeping Sakura (Fukushima Prefecture)
Best viewing time: Mid-April
Website
Trains used to run alongside the Nicchu Line, however as soon as it was shut down this part of the tracks within the city of Kitakata was transformed right into a pedestrian pathway, and there’s no higher time to stroll it than in spring. You’ll go underneath roughly 1,000 sakura bushes alongside the three-kilometer course, and whereas ordinarily it wouldn’t take greater than an hour to cowl that distance, it’s arduous to think about a strolling course higher suited to taking your time to figuratively cease and odor the roses, by wanting on the sakura, than this one.
Source: Jalan, PR Times
Images: PR Times
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